Romanian Prime Minister Ciolacu leads in first round of presidential elections

(Patria) - Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu appeared set to win the most votes in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, with the Black Sea state's firm support for Ukraine likely at stake in the second round on December 8, Reuters reported late on Sunday.

Exit polls showed Social Democrat Ciolacu (56) leading with 25%. Centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi (52) was at 18% in exit polls, followed by two hard-right candidates, Calin Georgescu (62) and George Simion (38), with 16% and 15% respectively.

The poll data does not include the preferences of hundreds of thousands of Romanians living and voting abroad. Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, is particularly popular among diaspora voters.

Romania's president has a semi-executive role that gives them control over defence spending, which is likely to be a difficult issue as Bucharest is under pressure to maintain NATO spending targets during Donald Trump's second term as President of the United States while trying to reduce a large fiscal deficit.

Lasconi told her supporters after the exit polls were released that she was optimistic about making it to the second round. "But, as you can see, the results are very tight, let's wait for tomorrow's results to celebrate."

The campaign largely focused on rising living costs, with Romania having the highest share of people in the European Union at risk of poverty.
Lasconi, a former journalist, joined the Save Romania Union (USR) in 2018 and became party leader this year. She believes in increasing spending on defence and aid to Ukraine, and polls show she would beat Ciolacu in a second round.

But if Simion or Georgescu come second, analysts say Lasconi will likely urge her supporters to vote for Ciolacu to prevent a hard-right victory. Georgescu has made pro-Russian and anti-NATO comments.